Receipt system.



f II. A. AIKINS.

v RECEIPT SYSTEM. APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 1906.

994,234. Patented June 6, 1911.

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RECEIPT SYSTEM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 24, 190e.

994,234. Patented June 6,1911.

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HERBERT n. Anims, or GLEVELAND., '01110.

I speeifiation f' Letters Patent.

encerrar SYSTEM.

indented June e, ieri.

Application filed September 254, 1906. Serial o. 336,042.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT A. Anims,

va citizen of the UnitedY Sntates,'resident vof Cleveland, county of Cuyahoga, and State of Ohio, have invented a new and iiseful Im `proveinent in `Receipt Systems, of Iwhich the following is a specification, theprinciple of vthe invention being herein vexplained andthe best 'inode in Whic I have contemplated ap- Jlyingthat principle, so as to distinguish it rom other inventions.

My invention relates'to the art of accounting and has. as its-object the provision of means that will do away Withi the present burdensome and rexpensive method of receipt-ing bills or statements of account that have been paid by check.

To this end said invention consists of means hereinafter fully described and particularly pointed out in the claims.

i The annexed .drawings 'and the following description set forth in detail certain means EAsisy well known embodying the invention, such disclosed means constituting but one of various Ways in Which the principle of the invention may be-used.

l l l u In said annexed drawings t-Figure l represents a blank bill or statement of accountembodying one form of my invention; Fig. 2 re resents a similar bill or statement with afslightly diierent form'of such invention incorporated therein; Fig. 3 shows a modiication of the form-represented in Fig. l in which the check identilication memberis in the form of alabel; Fig. 4 illustrates, in connection with the yparticular vform of the invention shown in Fig. 3, the manner of using -siich 4inventionin conjunction with .an ordi- "iinaryl check, and Fig. 5 shows a similar modilication ofthe form ofthe invention represented in Fig. 2.

by those familiar with .;bfiisiness methods, it is, the almost universal kpractice'oi.mercantile firms doing a credit business,of 'public service corporations and` the like Where tlie service is charved up at the I end oit' stated periods, as Well as o? many other 4persons and institutions, to render atregular intervals: a 'bill or statement of account.y

Such bills or statements, usually, sent out at 1 the'rst of each month to eaclipatron or cusltornei' havin iiost part paid by check.v Upon thereturn- 4ol the bill thus accompanied by a check for a debit balance, are for the the proper amount, such bill is duly ieceipted and sent backto the customer again. In thecase of a firm doing a largebusiness,

`each of these steps involves, inthe aggregate, the expenditure of'a considerable sum otmoney for postage if the mails are used, which is usuallythe mosteconomical method yand the one generally employed. Of such yceiptcd bill in orderr tolOWer this expense,

the necessity of originally rendering the bill being apparently without escape.` To this end many businesshoiises do not return the billat all, the assumption being that the indorsed check, when it 'iinally comes back to the customer, will be suicient receipt.-

This method has, proven liable to grave abuse, however; for customers not infrequently use checks in cash transactions over tliecounter, and 'may even have a check cashed outright as an accommodation. These checks, once they are indorsed, are obviously not susceptible of' being distinguished from those drawn in payment, or part payment, of a booked account. A re ceipt system, hence, to be a successful substitute for the method at present prevailing, must involve in some manner the coperation of the payer andpafyee, it must preclude the possibilities of fraud aboie described, and at thesame time it must be inexpensive not merely in the ,first cost of installation but- `in the matter of time required toperforin it.

vous Ways, but to be effective and satisfactory it must be madeor indorsed by the recipient firm.

The simplest `forni in ivhich I contemplate carrying out mysystem is shown in Fig. 1,

in which A designates the body of a blank Such bill or statement of account offamiliar form. A small portion a. of suoli body is rendered detachable therefrom by the presence of a line of perforations a. The form of such detachable portion, While immaterial, is perhaps most conveniently triangular as shown, and on it and oii'the body proper of the bill '.re impressed or Written common numbers or other marks of identification. In addition to the mere identification mark on the detachable portion a,

the latter preferably bears a receipt forni such as appears in the figure of reference, e. g. Doe d: Co. received the amount of this check on Bill No. l the bill number serving to identify the portion When torn from the bill. On the bill in addition to the usual heading there should appear a legend directing that. portion a be detached and pasted upon the back of the check drawn in payment. of-the bill. l`o facilitate such attachment to the check the back of the portion may bel furthermore suitably gumined. Instead of making the detachable portion a a part of the bill-liead, it may be found less expensive to make it a part of a label or pastor l, Fig. 3, entirely separate and apart from such bill-head. In this case both ends of the label are gumincd, and the one end, bearing a legend corresponding to that described as appearing on the billhead A adjacent to portion a, is designed to be pasted upon the regular bill or statement form. The label thus becomes, iii effect, a part of thc`bill and to prevent. its substitution by another label, a stamp may be impressed partly across its face and partly across the face of the bill. The portion whiclibears a receipt form as before, is designed to be detached a'long perforations 7) in exactly the same ivay and pasted upon the back of the check drawn in paynient of the bill. Theidentication marks in this modified form appear on the two ends of the label B, respectively.

It is of course immaterial whether the receipt forni appear on the detachable portion a or or whether it appear on the bill proper or, what amounts to the saine thing, the portion of label B that-is pasted thereon. Such receipt form would'be simply modiicd to inc"ease that acknowledgment is made of payment when the detachable portion, bearing` nothing but. identification number, has been pasted on the back of the check and stamped. vA suggested forni would be: The receipt of any payment made by check bearing the numbered slip attached to this bill will be acknowledged by our indorsing such check over such slip.

lt will be equally obvious that the cominoii marks employed to identify bill and check need not be wholly arbitary symbols or numbers but that the receipt tag may bear. a date and the customers naine with iand check blank. l

the statement that the amount of the check to which it is attached is acknowledged as having been paid on service to such date as per bill rendered. The total amount of the service may even be included on such detachable portion if desired thus making the identification still more certain, and leaving the customer free, if he chooses, to tear up the bill.

The appearance of the back of a check with an identifying receipt tag of the form represented in Fig. 3 secured thereon, is` shown in Fig. 4. As there appears, the indorseinent of the payee is stamped directly over the tag. This is the final step in the carrying out of my system, for there can be no question of the firins receipt of the check for the specific purpose indicated on the tag when once its acknowledgment has been thus formally made thereto. The -indorse- `ment of a check thus tagged in the fashion just described, forms ,the subject matter oi" a separate, divisional application, tiled April -1, 1911, Serial No. (313,376, in which l have claimed such check, a sheet of paper affixed upon the surface of the same, and bearing a mark identifying it with a particular bill, and the indorsement ofl the check stamped over such sheet or tag.

The second form of my invention, tivo modifications of which, corresponding to the tivo modifications of the first forni above described, are shown in Figs. 2 and 5, differs from such first form only in that the detachable portion is enlarged sufficiently to include a check blank. Thus in Fig. 9., the bill-head C is, as before, of any approved design, the only variation being the inclusion of a detachable portion c on which there appears, in addition to the receipt forni, a

check form to fill out which requires only the insertion of the naine of the custoiners bank, 'the amount, and his signature. As in the bill illustrated in Fig. l, a common identification number is stamped or Written on both this detachable portion and the bill proper.'l lVhcre, instead of printing the detachable portion a on the same sheet as, the bill-head, it is considered more desirable, as in the first form, to utilize a label, suchk label will take as a preferred form that shown in Fig. 5. Here D designates the end that is designed-to be pasted on the bill-head, and d the portion made detachable therefrom and bearing the receipt form 1 In the use of the above-described second form of my invention,l the indorsement of the eheck'by the payee serves as before as a positive and definite acknowledgment of' the'receipt of the suni noted in such check foi` a specific purpose. No possibility for. a quibble or misunderstanding is afforded where either forni of my system is adopted. 'lhe firm is not obliged to indorse the check until it has assured itself as to the correctness of the amounts; and not even in the first form, where the identificationtag is pasted on the check instead of being integral with it, is theri any possibility of fraud. A new tag cannot be pasted on an old indorsed check for it would then lack the indorsement across its face nor is there any possibility of successfully transferring an old tag to a new check, for the indorsement would only be partial, nor of exchanging one old tag for another, since the indorsement would be almost sure to fail .to match, not to speak of the evidences of tampering that would be readily apparent.

As a matter of convenience, `the number of the ledger folio on which the customers account is kept may be used as the identification number on the bill receipt-tag, in which event it does not need to appear on the bill. Or such number may appear on either the tag or bill or on both, in addition to an arbitrary or independent series of identification symbols or numbers. Or the number of the bill may be placed on the ledger folio to facilitate which a second dctachable tag bearing the number and noth- Y ing else may be provided. Where the ledger folio and the bill are identified in any one of the ways just described, the confusion now frequently resulting from one party paying the bills of another, as in the case of trustees, executors and the like, as also whenan amount either greater or less than that called for by the bill is paid, is prevented absolutely. Even where it is the practice of a Iii-m to receipt and return a bill it often happens that a customer not desiring such receipt will simply send in his check without any comment that would'serve to indicate its proposed application. The spirit of my invention includes these and such other minor variations of the saine order as will be suggested bythe slightly dill'ercnt needs of different users.

Having thus described my invention in detail, that which' I particularly point out and distinctly claim, is i l. A formv comprlsing two.y sections, one of said sections including aimarkidentifying it with a particular bill or account, and the other thereof a legend directing customers paying by lcheck to vdetach such .first .section and secure it on their checks.

other thereof a legend directing customerspaying by check to detach such first section and secure it on their checks and stating that the payees indorsement over such de-A tached portion is acknowledgment of receipt, substantially as described.

4. A receipt system including means for identifying a check as having been paid on a particular bill or statement of account, such means comprising a form including two 'sections, one of said sections comprising a receipt form, and the other' thereof a legend directing customers paying by check to detach such first section and secure it on the back of their checks and stating that the payees indorsement over such detached portion is acknowledgment of receipt, substantially as described, each of s'aidsections containing a common mark of identification.

Signed by me, this 13" day of September 1906.

HERBERT A. AIKINs Attested vby- 'Gn W. SAYWELL,

JNO. F. OBERLIN. 

